Culture & Public Square

Culture & Public Square helps Christians think biblically about life in society and engage today’s issues with conviction and compassion. Explore articles on current events, ethics, justice, race, technology, public life, and cultural trends—grounded in Scripture and shaped by Christian wisdom. You’ll find guidance for faithful witness, thoughtful dialogue, and making disciples in a complex world, while keeping the gospel at the center. Whether you’re navigating challenging conversations or seeking clarity for ministry and daily life, these resources equip you to live and speak with grace and truth in the public square.

October 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Patriotism, Idolatry, and Evangelism

By Rubel Shelly In my opinion, the United States of America is a wonderful, though imperfect, country. One could even call it exceptional in many ways among all the nations of the world, but I refuse the designation “American exceptionalist.” An American woman can love her country and be deeply patriotic because she appreciates its uniqueness and marvelous history. She might point to such things as its abundant natural resources and favorable climate. More likely, she would talk even more about the freedoms of speech, press, and religion. There is the protection under law its citizens enjoy. She could reference its

October 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Culture, Country, & Christ

Books to shed light on conventional notions of God and country By Jim Tune “Is the United States an exceptional nation? Of course it is. . . . Though not everyone may like the way the United States has used its exceptional status over the course of the last two centuries, it is hard to deny that it has been . . . extraordinary.” So says John Fea in his foreword to John D. Wilsey”s American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion. Personally, I”m inclined to agree. In my research, the authors of the books I surveyed are, for the most part, in agreement

October 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Can I Be a Christian and a Patriot?

Four biblical principles about our earthly citizenship By Matt Proctor Full confession: I love America. I was born on an overseas U.S. Army base where my father served, and I respect the office of president, sing the national anthem, salute the flag, and own the movie Captain America. But my study of God”s Word has led me to decide how I should view my love of country in terms of my higher calling. Two summers ago, I took my 10- and 12-year-old sons on a weeklong U.S. history tour. We imagined being an immigrant at Ellis Island, marveled at the

October 5, 2016

Christian Standard

Reconciliation

By Jim Tune “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, English Standard Version). “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18, ESV). ___ A number of widely publicized events have many people concerned about racial tensions in America. Blacks and whites may not agree on underlying causes or potential solutions, but skin color aside, it seems no one is happy about the present state of

September 30, 2016

Christian Standard

The Gospel of Star Wars

By Joe Boyd Star Wars was everything to me growing up as a child of the 1980s. It was more than just a series of three movies. It was an alternative world that consumed me. I spent hours alone and with friends playing with the action figures””creating new stories to add to the adventure and mythos of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Han Solo. I grew up but never outgrew the stories George Lucas created. I was more than excited to see three new “prequel” movies in the early 2000s. While the films fell short of my expectations,

September 20, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

How to Protect Your Church”s Tax Exempt Status at Election Time

By Mark A. Taylor Sometimes it”s important to repeat what we think everyone already knows. This week we”re giving space to advice from a Christian lawyer in Maryland to remind us what churches and church spokespersons can and cannot say as our national election approaches. Philip Chong, an attorney with the international law firm Duane Morris LLP, and treasurer and board member at the Baltimore Church of Christ, sent the following advice, which we”re pleased to post here. You may want to share this information with a Christian leader you know. Just because everyone seems to be talking about the

September 9, 2016

Christian Standard

What”s to Love About ‘Fixer Upper’

By Lauren Hansen If you”re like me, you could watch Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV”s home renovation hit Fixer Upper, do just about anything. I”d be entertained watching them watch paint dry. They”re good at their work and enjoy doing it. And, perhaps even more appealing, they honor each other and laugh a lot while working together. They include their kids in projects. They”re champions for their hometown of Waco, Texas. They must”ve boosted business for every carpenter, graphic designer, and antique mall within a 40-mile radius. They”re fun, entertaining, admirable people who seem to have a pretty

September 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Love and Reconciliation

By Jim Tune On Sunday, September 15, 1963, four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted and then detonated at least 15 sticks of dynamite beneath the front steps of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama. The firebombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church killed four girls, prompting Martin Luther King Jr. to make one of the most radical statements imaginable: “At times life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. In spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not lose faith in our white brothers.” To insist on faith in the humanity of an enemy and to

August 23, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

All We Need Is . . . Love?

By Mark A. Taylor Wisconsin state Sen. Lena Taylor offered a thoughtful evaluation of why riots erupted in Milwaukee August 13, after a policeman shot an armed black man running from a traffic stop. There”s much to consider in her perspective, but today I”m posting about a problem even bigger than America”s racial divide. At the end of Taylor”s interview, the host asked her this: “So as a leader in this community, what is your message now to the people living in Milwaukee who are experiencing this unrest, this anger, this expression of frustration that is in many cases taking

August 19, 2016

Christian Standard

From Despair to Hope

By Victor Knowles The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011. Visitors pass through the divided granite “Mountain of Despair” on their way to the “Stone of Hope.” An inscription on the “Mountain of Despair” reads, “I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness,” a statement King once suggested for how he would like to be remembered. But today we celebrate a different kind of memorial. It is not carved in granite or set in stone. The memorial consists of two extremely perishable elements: unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. You

August 14, 2016

Christian Standard

Why Them?

By Jennifer Johnson In her memoir Lit, Mary Karr quotes her father speaking about the well-off: “Born on third base, . . . and they think they hit a home run.” I was born on second base, at least, and when I was a kid the game was black and white. People who don”t have jobs should get them, if you”re a responsible and hard-working person you will be able to afford a place to live, and only those with lesser character would need a hand up or a handout. I never heard things put so starkly by my parents,

August 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Rushing to Blame

By Joe Boyd Not long ago in Cincinnati, where I live, a very unfortunate accident occurred at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. As you probably remember, a young boy somehow made his way into the gorilla habitat. Ultimately it resulted in the hard decision to kill Harambe, a powerful and beautiful western lowland gorilla, for the sake of the child”s life. Soon after that, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history happened in Orlando, Florida. A gunman entered a gay nightclub and killed 49 people, injuring 53 others. (And some of the injured are still clinging to life as

August 2, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Beyond Fear

By Mark A. Taylor Gene Appel spoke of fear at Eastside Christian Church (Anaheim, California) July 10. This was the first Sunday after two black men, one in Louisiana and another in Minnesota, were shot by white police officers and later in the same week five officers were killed by a black sniper after a peaceful rally in Dallas, Texas. These tragedies were on everyone”s mind that week, along with the continual staccato of news about global terrorism and political upheaval. “When the disciples huddled in secret after Christ”s crucifixion, they were afraid, too,” Appel said. And then he introduced

July 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Living Out the Mystery

By Travis Hurley My story changed when I served as lead minister for a multiethnic congregation in the Washington, D.C., area. Suddenly I was seeing an answer to Jesus” prayer for the visible unity of his people (John 17:20-23) in a way I had never seen before. As I developed deep, rooted relationships across ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic lines, my faith was sharpened, my willingness to love and serve all people was stretched, and a newfound humility and teachability was born within me. The mystery of the gospel””reconciling us to each other as well as to God himself””defies conventional wisdom.

July 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Is There a Christian Nation?

By Robert F. Hull Jr. God of our fathers, known of old”” Lord of our far-flung battle line”” Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine”” Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget””lest we forget! This is the first stanza of the poem “Recessional,” written by Rudyard Kipling for Queen Victoria”s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Although British might was still so “far-flung” that it was said “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” in his poem Kipling worried that the nation might become “drunk with sight of power” and forget the God

July 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Why Do We Love Superheroes So Much?

By Joe Boyd Summer means many things. Long days. Beach vacations. Baseball games and family reunions, neighborhood block parties and community fireworks””traditions that make summer great year after year. And, of course, the most consistent summer theme of all: the blockbuster superhero movie. 2016 continues the trend. Just look at the lineup: Batman v Superman, Captain America: Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse, Suicide Squad, and more. It begs the question. Why do we love superhero movies so much? I mean, we clearly do. Year after year, Hollywood spends millions of dollars making these films, and we respond by giving them billions

June 28, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Where Patriotism Belongs

By Mark A. Taylor The below piece, first posted here five years ago, still resonates with me as we approach the Sunday before the Fourth of July. As one commenter said when it first appeared, “Our patriotism is for our freedom and way of life in a free country; our worship is reserved only for our Creator God.” More than a decade ago, my congregation hosted a patriotic pageant each year called “Sea to Shining Sea.” We had a huge adult choir, a children”s choir, a live orchestra, actors, and dancers. We welcomed color guards from all the armed services.

June 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Trust Talks

By Delonte Gholston On a Saturday last April, a group of pastors and other faith leaders brought together a broad cross-section of the downtown community to talk about a rash of officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles and the rest of the country. Under the banner of the Downtown Los Angeles Clergy Council, they called this gathering the inaugural meeting of the Trust Talks. These first talks, hosted at the Last Bookstore in downtown, gathered more than 100 business owners, loft dwellers, residents in single resident occupancy hotels (called SROs), homeless people, community activists, service providers, faith leaders, and Los Angeles

June 20, 2016

Christian Standard

We Have a Dream!

By Dudley Rutherford The idea for Dream of Destiny came to me in the summer of 2007 after I downloaded a photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King speaking to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Attended by some 250,000 people on August 28, 1963, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation”s capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage. I made this iconic photo my computer”s screensaver and noticed something I had not been aware of previously. I noticed there were many Caucasians

June 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Love Is the Universal Language

By Becky Ahlberg The problem with discussions about race relations is that we too often start with the differences and not the things we have in common. It”s easy to make hasty generalizations and base our thinking on stereotypes or other people”s experiences. Depending on where you live, you may not encounter many people who are different from you, and it can be difficult to make a fair and objective assessment of them. Let me give you an example. In Anaheim, California, where I live, we have one of the most diverse populations in the country. More than 50 different

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